For This I Am Grateful Friday

Sigh. We've made it through another week. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be without my husband around, although we definitely missed him. I will admit that my patience was wearing dangerously thin by midday today. I am very much looking forward to some family time this weekend and maybe getting a little rest.  Maybe.

So, without further ado, here is my list of the things I'm grateful for at the moment:

• That my husband had a successful business trip and returned to us safe and sound.
• That we had no major catastrophes while he was away.
• That through the wonder of savasana, the terrible, nausea-inducing headache that I had going into my Body Flow class was gone by the time that I left.
• That my grandmother had a couple of good days in a row this week after turning 94 on Monday.
• That I have a comfy spot on the couch to veg out tonight while the cat clings to me as if he hasn't seen me in a month.

He was so starved for cuddle time that he opted to snuggle up with one of the dog's toys. Yes, Smokey, I got the message.

I Should Probably Stock Up On Sleep. And coffee.

I love that every single morning when Eva gets up, the first thing she says to me is, "Mommy, where are we going today?"  She knows that (except for days like yesterday), we generally have something to do and somewhere to go every morning.  Most of the time it's our usual routine of school or the gym, but every so often there's a little something special thrown in like the pumpkin patch, the zoo, or even a trip to visit her grandparents.  She loves to go on whatever outings the day holds for us, and even looks at a trip to the grocery store as an adventure.  I love that about her.

Growing up, we never really did anything or went anywhere outside of our daily routines.  There were less than a handful of family vacations, and I can't remember us doing anything truly memorable or "cool."  Granted, we didn't have much money, but that didn't seem to be the biggest reason why we didn't do all the stuff that the families around us seemed to do all the time.

Saturdays were for cleaning the house.  Always.  No one went anywhere until all the chores had been done and the house was perfect.  (I guarantee you that my sisters are groaning as they read this.)  Sundays were for church.  Always.  No exceptions.  (So were Wednesday nights, also without exception, but that's a whole other story.)  I try to keep the house up during the week and sometimes catch up with it on the weekends, but if it isn't picture perfect, it's certainly not going to keep us from going anywhere.  No one gives you an award on your deathbed for always having a perfectly clean house.....and if they do I'm fine with forfeiting that one.

The reasons why were never went anywhere were always the same, "We don't have enough money.", "We're too tired.", "We need to clean the house.", and my two absolute favorites, "We can't." and "No."  Except that I don't believe that it was REALLY a money issue (Again, a whole other blog post.)  You make the best of what you have. My parents always seemed to have the attitude that because they couldn't do anything extravagant, they couldn't do anything at all.  Ever.  The fun stuff was for other people.  People who had everything they wanted and needed could enjoy life, but that wasn't our role.

I refuse to accept that.  Don't get me wrong, big-time money problems can be crushing and suck all the joy out of life.  I know.  And it does take money to do all of the things that she's doing right now- preschool, soccer, a trip to see Sesame Street Live.....but I don't ever want Eva to think that she has to have a certain amount of money in her bank account before she can be happy or enjoy life.  I don't want her to think that having fun is for other people or that she's not worthy of it.  Again, you make the most of what you have and find the joy in life where ever you can.

And that's part of the reason that the next month is going to be a little bit insane for us.  Admittedly, most of the activities that I have lined up are for me and my husband, but I'm pretty sure that Eva will have fun along the way too.  First up we have a trip back to my hometown to see Sesame Street Live.  I can't wait to see the look on her face when she gets to meet some of the monsters.  I should probably warn them ahead of time of her tackling capabilities.  I might have a hard time detaching her from them.

Then there will be my very first Penn State game.  Oddly, they're coming to me.  One day I will make the trip to see them at Beaver Stadium.  It's going to happen.  I don't expect them to win, but I'm going to have a good time anyway.  I'm quite sure that Eva will have a much better time at home with her aunt that she would at the game, so I think it's a win for both of us.

There's also a possible trip to Pittsburgh- I'm still trying to work out the logistics for that.  My husband and I would be attending a fundraiser for an organization near and dear to my heart AND attending a Pens game.  It would be a lot easier to leave her with my parents for the weekend, but I'm dying to show the city to her.  I just know that she'd LOVE the Carnegie Science Center and the Aquarium.  I'm still plotting.  There must be a way to make all of that work.

Then there's at least 1, if not 2, trips to North Carolina.  Lots to do, see, and think about!

I want to show my daughter that life is meant to be lived and enjoyed, not just survived or endured.  Apparently I will be doing that all during the month of November.  I hope she enjoys it, because we may be too tired to do anything fun in December.

She hated being swaddled as a newborn, but apparently being a "toddler burrito" is acceptable.

Our Day Wasn't What I Had Planned....It Was Better

Today was not the day I had intended it to be.  Wednesday morning always means Body Pump at the gym, but apparently I managed to pull most of the muscles in my lower back at my class on Monday.  That meant no gym for me today......and that I should figure out what I'm doing wrong that always causes me to pull lower back muscles when I do jump kicks.  I had an errand to run, but it took a while to get going.  Laying on the couch with a heating pad was much more appealing than getting on with my day since I was feeling at least twice my age, if not more.

It took so long to get my feeble, rickety bones up off the couch, that the mid-morning trip out became an early afternoon excursion.  In an attempt to make our girls week special, I decided to take Eva out to lunch.  As per the usual routine, a minute or so after we were seated, the waitress came over to take our drink order.  Without any prompting from myself, Eva rattled off her drink and her lunch orders complete with a "Please."  Wait.  How old is this kid now?  Did she seriously just order for herself?  Did that just happen?  I just sat there and stared at her in disbelief for a few seconds.  She's definitely a kid who knows what she wants......and is growing up a little too fast for me.

After lunch and our 3rd trip to Target this week (There's a story.  It involves deodorant.  I'm not ready to talk about it yet.), we had some ice cream and then it was Eva's naptime.  To my amazement she actually went right to sleep and I had to wake her up a couple of hours later.  I should have napped too after only getting 3 hours of sleep last night.  Again.  For some reason I decided to be productive around here for once and worked on the laundry instead.

Going in to wake Eva up from her nap was probably the best part of my day today.  Just like her mother, she needed a few minutes to lay there and gradually come out of that wonderfully sleepy state.  I asked her if she wanted me to cuddle with her and she said "Yes.", and then scooched over a little so that I could fit in there with her.  As I snuggled up to her, she started drifting back to sleep, and brought her right hand up to her cheek- just the way she slept when she was a baby.  It was a beautiful moment, getting to watch her like that.  It was a cozy little reminder that no matter how fast she grows up, she'll always be my baby.

I hated to have to eventually get her up, but a) she needed to be able to get back to sleep at a decent hour and b) we had a dinner engagement with my sister to run off to.  I'm still trying to forget all the things that I witnessed in the "Theater of the Living" as we waited for my sister to join us.  I sincerely hope that Eva wasn't able to process any of it and won't be haunted by any of it in her dreams.  (Amorous teenagers, bitter post-breakup guy, and angry teenage girl yelling at her mother, OH MY!)  But then "Aunt Kees" showed up, and that was probably Eva's favorite part of her day.  It all led to a VERY late bedtime, but at least there's some wiggle time in our morning schedule tomorrow if she wants to sleep in.  (It could happen.....maybe.....)

While this week without my husband around has been lonely, it hasn't been as difficult as I thought it would be because I've still had my little doppelganger with me.  The way she's always ready with a hug and a smile is so sweet.  It absolutely melts my heart when she looks at me and says, "Mommy, I'm so glad that you're here."  She's going to stay this sweet forever, right?  Right?!  (Feel free to lie to me.)

We wore purple today for Spirit Day.  Did you?

Her First Field Trip

This morning I took Eva on her first class field trip to a local pumpkin patch.  The day got off to a rocky, hectic start and I was worried that the trip could be somewhat of a disaster for us.  And did I mention that it had been raining most of last night?  We were running late, a certain someone refused to use the potty before we left, and it was cold, overcast, and drizzling outside.  Armed with coffee and a few deep breaths, I braced myself as we made our way there.

I have to say that it went MUCH better than I expected it to.  Aside from 2 (rather short-lived) meltdowns and our first experience with a porta potty, we both had a good time.  Eva played in a giant sandbox, a moon bounce, and a ball pit.  All of the kids, parents, and teachers from her class even got to go on a hay ride together.  Near the end Eva painted a pumpkin.  Having her do that at the end was a mistake- it didn't have enough time to dry before we left, so I'll be cleaning up paint in my car tomorrow.  Lesson learned for next time.

It was fun watching Eva explore the place and play with some of her classmates.  Upon arrival she immediately found her "vewwy best" friend J and spent a good 45 minutes by his side.  Upon explaining to her teacher that she and J had been in swimming lessons together over the summer, Mrs. K said that that "explained a lot."  I'm afraid to know exactly what that means, but I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that they're practically inseparable.  Eventually she did spend some time playing with a few of the other kids, which made me happy.  I'm glad that she has a very best friend (several, apparently), but we've been talking lately about how it's important to get to know all of the kids in her class.  I'm glad to see that she's branching out and giving the other kids a chance too.  The idea of cliques starting at age 3 makes me very uneasy.

The trip was nice for the moms, too.  We've all been in the kids' classroom together a couple of times, but this was the first time I had really talked to most of them.  This trip provided a good opportunity to break the ice and get to know each other a little (in between the multiple opportunities for crisis resolution with the kids, of course).

One of the best things about the trip was that it tired Eva out so much that she took a nap this afternoon for the first time in a couple of days.  This was a very good thing, because between insomnia, a husband that's been away, and being with a child who hasn't napped all day has been a bit exhausting.  Momma needed that nap too.

Popcorn!

Fun in the ball pit.

Pumpkin painting.

Just Us Girls

This is a different kind of week for us. Yesterday I dropped my husband off at the airport so that he could hop a flight for a business trip.  It's exceedingly rare that he travels for work, and thank goodness for that.  None of us is fond of him being away, and I won't even get into the ridiculousness of his journey to the other side of the country.  Let's just say that it was basically "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles: Business Edition."

It's not like this is totally foreign territory.  I'm a stay-at-home-mom, so the bulk of my day is spent alone with Eva anyway.  I usually get a little help from him as we all get going in the morning, but that aside it's all me until my husband gets home from work in the evening.  We have about 2 hours from when he gets home till Eva goes to bed, then he goes to the gym.  We might both be home and awake for another hour after that before bedtime.  So really, as far as time spent together in a typical weekday, there isn't that much (just like everyone else).

Except that there's something comforting about knowing that he's 20 minutes away during most of that time.  And there are calls and Google Chat conversations during the day.  And there are those valuable waking hours that he IS here.  And the non-waking hours when I get to sleep (if it's not an insomnia kind of night) knowing that my manly man of a husband is there to protect us.

But Eva and I have been keeping ourselves busy.  We went through our normal busy Monday routine today, with a few extra errands added in.  Tomorrow will bring Eva's first field trip, and the schedule for the rest of the week is pretty full as well.  If we keep ourselves busy, it'll make the week go by faster, right?  Right?

In her TV watching chair.

Goal!

For This I Am Grateful Friday

Wow.  It's been 2 weeks since I posted last?  Yikes!  It seems like time has been getting away from me lately, and usually before I can find anything worthwhile to say.  Note to self:  Work on that.

So without any further ado, here's my list of a few of the things that I'm grateful for today:

• That while I sit here typing this, I'm watching the Penguins game.  On the FSN Pittsburgh feed.  From Northern Virginia.  Yay for Center Ice!  The only thing that would make this better if they would win.  (C'mon guys, stop making me feel like I've jinxed you!)  Let's Go Pens!
• That my husband's eye is A-OK after scratching his cornea the other day.  I won't go into details about how it happened, but it involved home improvement and a lack of safety equipment.  Or an ancient contact.  Either way.....MEN!  *cue hissy fit, eye rolling, and head shaking*  I do have to say that he looks cute in his glasses though.  
• That my mother and I, possibly for the first time in my life, have a good relationship.  I expect that there will be hiccups along the way from this point out, but I'm enjoying where things are for now.  Maybe one day I'll blog about my part of the journey to this new place.
• That Eva is still loving every day of preschool.  She's showing a love of learning new things and for reading, both of which make me a very happy camper.

For This I Am Grateful Friday

A list of a few of the things that I'm grateful for today:

• My Body Flow class (a mix of yoga, pilates, and tai chi) at the gym.  I enjoy (or at least appreciate) all of the classes and time that I put in at the gym, but this one is a little different because it has a spiritual, healing component to it as well.  It's a fantastic way to end the week.  
• Time spent today with one of my best friends and our kids.  We had a nice afternoon together while taking advantage of the sunny weather.
• My daughter being the best-behaved 3-year-old in the history of ever today.  We had a rough day yesterday, and today more than made up for it.  She really is a good kid, but today she seemed to take it to a whole new level.  We had so much fun together, and she even provided some entertainment in the car.  She was truly delightful.
• The time that I will be spending with my husband this evening as we watch a movie together- something that doesn't happen often enough.
• The upcoming weekend, which will be busy, but full of friends and family.

Personality.  She has it.

Edit:  I just got a phone call to let me know that my grandmother was released from the hospital this afternoon and should arrive home shortly.  This is one thing for which I am VERY grateful!